Interview with Andre Galvao from Grappler Gourmet

Interview with Andre Galvao, one of the most decorated BJJ practitioner and the man at the helm of one of the top BJJ teams in the World.

Recently I have had the honor to speak with the man, the myth, the legend himself, Andre Galvao. If you train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and do not know who Andre Galvao is, stop reading right here and just go look up any big name competition over the past 10+ years. Andre Galvao is a 3rd degree Black belt who started back in 1999, Co-founder of Atos Jiu Jitsu, Ownder of Atos Jiu Jitsu San Diego and a devoted family man. When competing, which is very often, filming for www.AllGalvao.com, or just posting videos @Galvaobjj you will see him representing Kingz Kimonos and Muscle Pharm proudly. Normally here I would give a brief list of notable achievements but with Andre I ran into a snag, which was the sheer quantity of titles, here is a list of some of the more notable achievements:

What is your average everyday diet like? A quick outline for those who haven’t read your awesome book “Drill to win.” Within your system you are eating very often, what challenges do you find on a daily basis when it comes to eating

I really do the “Drill to win” book diet. I love to eat healthy always. I always watch what I eat. Plus my wife loves to diet so we always eat clean…even my daughter eats lean and clean.

What are your common cheat meals/days like and how often are they?

My cheat day is pretty much on Sundays. I like to eat dark chocolate, raisins, and I eat popcorn a lot when I go to the movies but I keep my diet always pretty much.

A huge topic for me and what I feel people are most interested in is pre and post training. What is your pre-training and post-training intake like?

I really like to take some caffeine before training, but just a little bit. Also Amino and recovery drinks. I like to eat normal before training. I can eat and then train right away. I have no problem with that. After training I like to eat some fruit, BCAA, drink lots of water, whey protein and recovery drinks

We all know you compete at the highest levels and often, what are your dinners the night before competition like and breakfasts? Are they similar to your every day or do you have a special ritual meal?

I eat pretty much normal but I add more carbs in my night before meals. I like a lot of pasta the day before. For the day of tournaments, I eat a lot of dry fruits and nuts. My breakfasts before tournaments are the same but in smaller proportions.

When traveling for competitions, for instance to China for ADCC, do you find it hard to maintain your common eating habits? How do you prepare yourself for that?

I try to find a place with continental breakfast and an American menu. So I can eat normal or even my breakfast get stronger adding eggs, omelet bacon ETC.ETC. So I do it when I go to far. My lunch and dinner I try to tell the garcon(waiter) to clean up my food such as plain pasta with grilled chicken or meat.

You have a very busy schedule running Atos with your wife Angelica, and both of you training so often. When it comes to keeping your family fed how do you manage it? Is there a kitchen space within Atos? I mean obviously Friday Night Pizza and Gi nights aside.

Haha. No, we don’t have a kitchen there. But, we are in California and the food here is pretty clean if you are looking for it. Pizza is very very hard for us to eat. Once in awhile like maybe once a year or less Haha. Friday is our cheat day, eating a lot of sushi.

What percent of your meals do you prepare yourself and bring with you? Or better question, what percent do you order in or go out to eat?

Once in awhile I do it when I do it for my lunch- time. I never order things to go.

When you do go out to eat with the family do you still follow your guideline or treat it as a cheat day?

I try to follow my diet at all times and all day.

If there was a skill or cooking technique that you would like to learn to improve your arsenal what would it be? Or is there a food you wish you knew how to make?

I just need boiled water my wife is the one who cooks all the time for me.

You do have a very extensive supplement routine, what part of that do you feel is the most important?

I believe the BCAAs before and after training and the whey protein right after training as well. I believe you need to have discipline. I really like to use creatine too.

What are your top 5 favorite ingredients/foods?

Pasta, red meat (BBQ), eggs, fruits and nuts.

Andre, I’d like to thank you so much for your time and its been a pleasure!